Deception
by GreenFlameImmortal
Summary: In the Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, they receive yet another new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The teacher actually used to be Voldemorts right had man, and it's unknown whether she's there to help or hurt the students. Perhaps both.
1. Chapter 1

Note: Ok, I had to do this for a reading class of mine. It only had to be a ten-page story, and lets just say I got a little carried away with it. I'm on page 72 right now in my little notebook, and still going. . Now, for all you Harry Potter fans out there that are reading this, I'm only going by what I've seen in the movies. I tried to read the first book, but I'm the type of reader that needs to be instantly hooked on the first page to continue reading, and the book didn't quiet do that for me, so needless to say I just threw the book down. I have done a little research so I don't seem like a total idiot to all you out there that know the books well, and my interest has been sparked a little. I'm considering giving the series another try, but after I finish reading a few other books that my friend would like me to read. Well, hope you enjoy it. The original chapters were actually much longer than they are here, but it was taking to long to type up so I shortened them greatly. Oh yeah, and it takes place right after the book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, cause that was the movie we watched. Just so you know. . 

Disclaimer: Oh and I don't own Harry Potter. Just thought I'd let you guys know that. .

* * *

"Harry, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed as she hustled over to her two dear friends. She held her arms out wide so she was able to embrace both Ron and Harry at the same time. 

Harry smiled and returned the friendly hug to Hermione. He turned his head to glance at Ron, and his smile grew bigger. A chuckle escaped him as he continued to look at Ron, who was trying his best to hide his blush as he too hugged Hermione back. After a moment Harry decided to pull back; as he did he kept his hand on Hermione's shoulder and said, "It's good to see you again."

Ron hesitated for a brief moment, then added in his usual unsure tone, "Yeah, good to see you again, Hermione." As Ron pulled away from Hermione he heard the sound of the train's horn, signaling that it was time to head out. He gestured his head towards the compartment the usually sat in on the ride to Hogwarts, "Come on, we'd better take our seats."

The three turned to the small compartment, and one by one they went it. Hermione and Ron sat on the same side, and Harry across from them. The entire train ride to Hogwarts they spoke of their summer. Harry was with Ron the entire summer. He didn't want to go back home to his horrible Aunt and Uncle, so the Weasly's took him in without hesitation.

They all laughed at the experiences they had during the summer, and all was good until they neared the school. Their laughing died down, and everything got quiet. Harry looked out the train window and saw they were almost to Hogwarts. He pondered on a thought, then turned to the others and asked, "Do you think he'll come after me while I'm in school?"

Neither Ron nor Hermione needed to ask whom he was speaking of; they both knew. "It's hard to say," Hermione began, "He hasn't bothered you this summer, so maybe he's trying to regain all of his strength. He was nearly dead for, what, fifteen years or more? Don't worry about him though. If he does come after you, I know you'll be able to fight him off again like in the graveyard."

"Fight him off?" Harry repeated. "I didn't fight him off…I held him off long enough so I could make a run for it."

Harry removed his glasses and began to clean him on his shirt. He remembered the incident from last year like it happened three minutes ago. He could still vividly remember that terrifying flash of green light, and the way Cedric's cold corpse fell lifelessly to the ground. He could depict every detail of his body from this memory. Every smug of dirt on his face, every cut and bruise he could see on his body that wasn't covered, every small tear in his clothing, down to the placement of each hair follicle. The image was burned into his mind, and it would never go away so long as he blamed himself for Cedric's death.

Harry felt his weight being pushed forward, so he knew the train had arrived at Hogwarts. He took in a deep breath, then forced a smile for his friends and stood up. As they walked off the train and drew closer to the school, Harry seemed to forget his troubles just for the moment. He looked around to see all the new faces that would be attending Hogwarts for their first time and remembered his first year.

Soon Ron, Harry, and Hermione entered the main dinning room. Hermione smiled warmly and looked around the room. "It's good to be back here," she said softly.

They stood there admiring the room for a few moments, then took their usual seats at the Gryffindor table. Their attention soon turned towards Professor Dumbledore as he approached his podium to make his usual speech, then to introduce the new students attending Hogwarts. One by one they were called up to the front, and they each had the sorting hat placed on their head. The members of the group that the individual was selected to would clap for the kid and beckon them to join them at the table. Ron, Harry, and Hermione would sometimes whisper to one another as a different child went up, sometimes making churlish remarks about them. They weren't trying to be spiteful, just trying to have fun.

The entire process took around forty minutes to complete, and afterwards Dumbledore stepped back up to his podium to make a few more announcements about the new year at Hogwarts. He began by explaining how every one has to be a bit more cautious this year now that the dark lord has come back. He was about to make a few more announcements, but he stopped mid sentence.

There was a loud banging sound, as the large entrance doors were swung open. The sound startled even the bravest of souls in the room. After the sound of the door hitting the walls as it was forced open, the room was filled with the sounds of gasps and small yelps. Every one whirled around in their seats and stared at the mysterious figure that was standing in the doorway. There was a long silence, but that was soon broken by the sounds of the figures footsteps as they glided across the room.

No one could tell who the mysterious person was. Who ever it was wore a long black hooded cloak that hid their face. As the person walked down the walkway to the front of the room, then cloak flowed behind them so that their arms were revealed. As she passed by, some students caught glimpse of The Dark Mark on her left forearm.

Harry in particular got extremely tense as the figure passed by him. The very sight of the mark made his blood run cold, and a pallid look to come over his face.

Hermione took notice to the nervous look Harry had, and reached over and placed her warm hand on Harry's shoulder. She quickly withdrew her hand when Harry unexpectedly jumped. She paused, and then asked, "Are you alright?" Hermione hadn't caught glimpse of the dark mark on the figures arm; only few did. Most were focused on trying to see through the shadow of the hood.

Harry couldn't reply to Hermione at the moment; he was to focused on watching the hooded figure exchange some words with Dumbledore. He tried to ease drop, but was unable to hear what was being said, though he couldn't help but notice the disgusted look on the faces of the teaching staff. Harry blinked and broke his concentration when he felt a firm tap on his shoulder. He turned to Hermione and managed to blurt out, "Oh, uhm, yeah I'm fine."

When Harry turned back, the strange person and Dumbledore had finished up there short conversation. The hooded figure stepped back and to the side, while Dumbledore turned back to the podium once more. He looked around the room at all the curious faces staring at him, eager to know what was going on, and who the mysterious person was. "Attention everyone," he began, even though he knew he had their attention the moment they saw the hooded figure enter the room, then continued, "This year we'll be getting yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Let me introduce…" then he stopped. When he turned to point out the new teacher, he saw that the mysterious person had vanished.

Dumbledore's gaze darted around the area, trying to locate where the new teacher had gone. Hagrid made a small gesture with his head towards the side door, where apparently the teacher disappeared through.

Dumbledore let out a small sigh, and then slowly turned back to the students with a slightly irritated expression. "Well, I guess you'll just have to meet your new teacher tomorrow," he said briefly, then added, "I look forward to another good year with you students here at Hogwarts."

With that all the students turned away from the front of the room, and began to eat and gossip about who the new teacher could possibly be. Those who saw the dark mark didn't mention it to the others, for they themselves weren't sure of what they saw. If they did see it, it was only for a brief moment, not long enough to be sure that it was a skull with a serpent emerging from its mouth.

When dinner was over and done with the students returned to their rooms, and the new students were shown to their quarters. Hermione said goodnight to Harry and Ron, and went her separate way to her room, while Harry and Ron walked to the room they shared together. It had been a tiring day, and they didn't plan on staying up very late just shooting the breeze, so they both started to get ready for bed almost immediately after walking through the door.

"Who do you suppose it is?" Ron asked Harry, pulling his baggy grey T-shirt over his head and slipping his arms through the sleeves. "I doubt we know the person, but it's fun to guess."

"I don't know, but this person's giving me a bad vibe…" Harry replied, his voice trailing off towards the end of his sentence as the image of the dark mark on the forearm of their new teacher flashed in his mind.

Ron pulled the red comforter on his bed back, and then crawled under the sheets. Once he was comfortable lying on his side with his knees pulled close to his chest and his head rested on the pillow he asked Harry, "What do you mean, 'a bad vibe'?"

Harry was standing by the single window in the room, shaking his head and drawing in a deep breath. "When he, or she, walked by me I saw something on their arm. It was his mark, Voldemorts mark," Harry said in a distant, almost frightened voice. Slowly he reached up and ran his fingers very lightly over the thunderbolt scar located on his forehead, thinking back to the event at the graveyard yet again.

Ron was startled by Harry's claim and stared at the ground shaking his head in disbelief. "No, they wouldn't let some one like that teach here. They might be a threat to the students, so I think you might have been imagining things," he rationalized.

After a moment of silence Harry turned from the window and walked to his bed and drew back the comforter and plopped down so he was lying on his stomach. He could have proved Ron wrong just then if he chose to reveal that he knew Snape used to be a death eater, but that wasn't his business to expose so he kept his mouth shut for the time being. For now he went along with Ron's theory only for that reason, and replied, "Maybe your right. I've still been out of it since, well you know."

Ron didn't need to verbally respond to that, but only nodded his head. Their conversation came to an end with a quiet exchange of 'good nights'. They both snuggled deep into their beds and bundled up under the covers, but only Ron was able to find sleep. Harry, on the other hand, couldn't seem to get to sleep no matter how long he lay there with his eyes closed. All he could think about was their new teacher, and the dark mark they bore. To a certain extent he was almost afraid to go to class the next day, though at the same time he was curious to find out whom the stranger was and what they looked like under the hood. All those thoughts and emotions ran though his head over and over again for almost two hours. Finally his thoughts were put to ease when he was finally able to drift into a deep slumber.


	2. Chapter 2

"So much for a new teacher," Hermione mumbled in a vexed tone. The new teacher they were supposed to have didn't show up, and the class period was already half over with. "This guy could have at least called in a substitute so we weren't sitting around, wasting our time," she added, placing her elbow on the desk, and her head in her hand.

"Well I'm not complaining. I don't mind taking a little time off in class," Ron replied to Hermione, "Maybe something came up suddenly and there wasn't any time to call a substitute." He shrugged and stretched out his arms while leaning back in his chair. He had to get used to getting up a little earlier than normal.

Harry was in a daze at the moment, and was going to make a crude remark about the teacher, since he already made up his mind that he wasn't going to like who ever it was, but stopped before he could speak to the sound of the door being slammed open unexpectedly. It was like a repeat of last night, only in a different room. Everyone in the classroom immediately shut up and whirled around in their seats to see a woman standing in the doorway.

The woman paused before she entered. She arched her eyebrow and her eyes darted across the room. She sighed and mumbled something so low that no one, not even the ones seven feet from her, could hear what she said. Finally she proceeded down the pathway between the row of desks and to the front of the room. As she walked past the students, especially the boys, studied her closely.

She was looked to be about the average height for a woman, around 5'3 or maybe 5'4, the students couldn't tell for certain. As she walked her shoulder length curly black hair bounced slightly with each step. The students could see that her eyes were a beautiful shade of jade; at least they were sure that her right eye was. Her left eye was covered by her bangs that were pushed all to the left side, and they could only vaguely see the green through all the black. She wore a tight green tank top, almost the same color of her eyes, and black baggy Capri's along with black slip on shoes.

She was very beautiful, and most of the boys couldn't stop staring at her, and their mouths almost touched the ground. Harry leaned close to Ron and whispered in his ear, "Do you think that's our new teacher?"

Ron didn't take his eyes away from the woman, who was now rustling through some papers on the front desk, but answered Harry, "I don't know, but I sure do hope so."

After the woman was done fiddling with the sprawled out papers on the desk, she turned to face the class and did another quick overview of everyone. She hopped up and took a seat on the top of her desk and crossed her left leg over the right. The class was silent, almost afraid to make a sound. It was awkward for them; some shifted uneasily in their seats waiting for her to say something.

"Hmm." She raised her hand to her chin and stared out at everyone. "So, this is the future generation of witches and wizards, huh?" she said, finally breaking the horrible silence. She then shook her head in disapproval and added in a muffled voice, "Sad looking bunch if you ask me."

Hermione seemed to be the one that took the most offence to her comment, and stood up to protest. As soon as she opened her mouth to speak, the woman silenced her. "Hermione, take a seat. I'm not in the mood to argue with any of you."

Hermione hesitated, wanting to say something, but wised up quickly and sat back down.

The woman watched Hermione and a crooked smile spread over her face. "Good choice," she said bluntly. She rose up from her place on the desk, clasping her hands together behind her back, slowly striding over to the window located next to her desk. She gazed down to the courtyard that could be seen from the window, and began to speak, not turning back to the students, "You're probably wondering who I am. My name's Jade. Don't worry about my last name because you will not be addressing me by it."

Jade pressed her hand against the cold window and pushed lightly on it, opening it halfway. "Oh, and don't use 'Miss' in front of my name or anything like that, not even professor. Never liked the sound of it in front of anyone's name," she stated in a softer tone.

Hermione watched her very closely. When it seemed as though she was finished speaking for the time being, she raised her hand up high so that she might let her speak now.

Jade never took her gaze away from the window, but saw her hand out of the corner of her eye. "Yes, Hermione?" she asked.

Hermione smirked and retracted her hand. "Regarding your earlier comment, I'd like to know what right do you have to judge us just by glancing at us," she said firmly. Ron and Harry both sighed and wished Hermione's pride wasn't so big sometimes.

The comment was enough to break Jade's gaze from the window. She turned and her eyes locked on Hermione. "You think I just came in, looked at you, and judged you?" She raised her hand to her mouth and let out a deep chuckle while shaking her head. "I judged you after I saw that you had failed your first test," she confessed.

Confusion swept across the room. Students turned to one another whispering things like 'What test is she talking about,' and 'I don't remember taking a test, do you?'. Hermione cocked her head to the side and asked Jade, "What are you talking about?"

"I was testing your dedication," Jade replied simply, shrugging her shoulders. "I wanted to know if there were any of you that were so dedicated that you'd open up your books regardless of the fact that you didn't know what we were studying, and try teach yourself. No one did that. Not even you, Hermione, which surprised me."

An icy wind blew in from the open window. Jade shuddered and reached back and pulled the window tightly shut, then leaned back against the stone wall. "Back when I was in school," she began, "We had this teacher that had a lot of personal problems, and it interfered with her teaching schedule, so she was often late for class. That didn't stop my classmates and me though. We'd just start without her every day, and hold discussions about the section we chose for that day, and teach ourselves about it. We didn't need a teacher to make us do the work. We had enough love for magic to learn it on our own.

"There are a few exceptional students in here that do have a passion for practicing magic, but not enough." Her expression was solemn, as was her tone. She raised her left arm so that her forearm was facing the class. "In case you're still in denial, I'd like to let you know that Lord Voldemort is back. I've seen what he can do up close. He is vile and merciless, and if any one of you were to face him now, you'd die within minutes. Maybe a few would last a good fifteen to twenty with him, but your fate would be the same." Jade lowered her arm. "The wizards and witches of my generation have failed to bring Voldemort down on many occasions, so it's up to you students and the rest of your generation to take him down. I suggest you get serious about your studies."

There was a long silence throughout the classroom. No one leaned over to whisper anything to any one, and no one shifted in his or her seats in any way so that the room was completely dead silent. Jade glanced at the clock and said in a low voice, "Have a good day."

The bell rang, and it seemed louder than it had ever. None of their classes had ever been this silent when it rang. They were used to the sound of the bell being drowned and muffled by the sound of their own voices as they chatted with those around them. Barely anyone moved even after the bell had rung. Jade's words were sinking in, and it made them think about the future. It made them think, 'what if Voldemort wasn't stopped? Would he grow so powerful that he takes over England possibly? What will it be like if he gains too much power?'

All the different possibilities ran through their minds at that moment. Hermione was the first one to stand up, and the rest of the students followed after her. She seemed to be thinking of other things. She understood what she was saying, but she still didn't like the woman. The dark mark on her arm that she so freely showed the whole class made her stomach churn. Why would Hogwarts hire an ex-death eater to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? It just seemed strange to her.

After thinking of it a little more, she didn't think it was to strange since there were many that changed sides. You can't change what you did in the past; just repent for the evil you have committed. Maybe Occumency teacher, or something else, but Defense Against the Dark Arts? What if it brought back that desire to practice black magic to her? What would they do if she turned on them?

Hermione was to caught up in her thoughts to hear Ron and Harry calling for her from behind. She had walked on ahead without them, and had not said a word. They were afraid she might be upset about something, so they both rushed to catch up to her.


	3. Chapter 3

"There's something strange about that woman," Hermione said, breaking the silence. "I don't think she should be teaching. She's not professional acting, and her method of teacher, psh, if you can call that teaching."

Ron and Harry looked to one another, then to Hermione. Neither one wanted to argue with her since she could be extremely stubborn sometimes. Ron, however, opened his mouth anyway, "She does have a point though."

Hermione's face flushed with anger since he was taking Jade's side. Though, she had no comeback. She slammed her library book shut and stormed off. She didn't bother to take the time to check out the book she had, so she threw it carelessly on the shelf. As she was walking out of the library, she asked herself why she was getting all worked up about this. She really didn't know why either. There was just something about Jade that irked her.

Hermione stopped in an empty hallway and paced back and forth several times. 'What is it that I don't like about her?' Hermione asked herself a couple of times. Jade seemed like a wise person and could offer the students a lot of knowledge, but she just couldn't shake this feeling.

The rest of the day went on as it usually did, almost. The students who had Jade for a teacher this year were quieter than usual, more focused on their studies. The teachers didn't have to tell the class to be quiet as often. Even professor Snape was surprised that he didn't have to tell Ron and Harry to shut up during their lessons.

After each class Hermione would approach the teachers, and ask if they knew any details on Jade's past. She didn't get any information from them, and she got the same answer from each of them, "It's not our business to tell. Her personal life isn't the concern of students."

The only thing Hermione could gather from the professors was that they didn't like her too much. She noticed that each one grimaced and scowled at the sound of her name. What ever she did in her past, it wasn't very good.

This new information just made Hermione more curious. She just had to know. If the teachers didn't like her, and there was something much more terrible about her than she could imagine, then it might explain why she had such spiteful feelings towards the woman she really didn't even know and who hadn't done anything to make her feel that way. She wondered how she could get the teachers to tell her what she wanted to know. Now that she knew there was something about Jade that no one was telling her, she _had_ to know.

On her way back to her room she passed by Professor Snapes private potions closet. She stopped dead in her tracks. The incident from last year when they used a veritaserum potion on Barty Crouch Jr. ran through her mind. Only a few drops and the consumer would reveal their darkest secrets to all those who asked. She had an idea now, but it was much too risky. If she got caught, who knows what trouble she would get it.

Hermione bit her lip and fidgeted with the end of her shirt, twisting it in her fingers. She wanted to know, but she didn't want to risk getting in trouble. She wavered between the two choices, and was unable to make up her mind. Several times she reached up to open the door, but each time she reconsidered her choice and withdrew her hand. A few times students would pass her, so she'd have to act normal as if she were just waiting for her friends to meet her there or something. None of the students that passed really thought anything of it, and simply passed her by as if she wasn't there.

When the other students had gone and passed around the corner, and they were out of view, Hermione turned to the door and stared at it. The potion behind the door was almost calling for it, taunting her, begging for her to just waltz in and take it. Finally, she made up her mind. She gathered up her courage and took in one deep breath, and reached for the doorknob.

Hermione's face suddenly went pale, and fear swelled up inside her. The doorknob was turning from the inside; Snape must have been in there. All she could do was jump back in surprise and cover her mouth. She watched as the door was pulled ajar, and looked up to see Snape glaring at her.

"What are you doing just standing outside my potions closet?" he asked suspiciously.

"I, uhm, I..." Hermione couldn't think of any valid excuse at the moment, at least not quick enough to drop Snape's suspicions. She staggered a bit longer, trying to find some lie he was most likely to believe, but knew it was no use and she had been caught red handed. She saw how impatient he was growing while waiting for her to respond, so she decided that maybe it was best to come clean.

"I told her to swing by here and pick up some sort of sleeping draught for me," Jade said as she walked up from behind Hermione. She shrugged, "I was thinking of teaching them a spell that would just about nullify the affects of a potion, or at least slow the affects so that if it's life threatening, they have more time to be treated for it." Jade reached up and put her hand on Hermione's shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze. She didn't look down at her; that would just give it away.

Hermione felt Jade's grip tighten on her shoulder, and she glanced up to her. She then knew what she was doing, but she didn't know _why_ she was doing it. "Uh, yes, that's right. I just wasn't sure which one she wanted, since there are quiet a few, so I was trying to think of the best one to choose."

Snape eyed the two of them; he didn't believe either one of them. "What exactly do you want?" he asked Jade.

Jade shrugged again, "It really doesn't matter; just a sleeping draught. Particularly one that's not so strong. Incase they mess up on their first try." She seemed calm, showing no indication that she wasn't telling the truth and making it all up as she went along.

Even though you couldn't tell by the way she spoke, moved, and looked that she was lying, Snape still didn't believe her. He knew she was an expert liar. "Why didn't you just come get it yourself? Students aren't allowed in here. There are far to many ingredients and potions in here that the students can make tons of mischief with."

Jade frowned and waved her hands slightly at her sides, "Hello, I didn't attend Hogwarts, and this is my first day as a teacher here. You really expect me to know all these things. I learned from one of the students that you had a potions closet and that you were the potions teacher. So then I sent Hermione here to get me a sleeping draught for the lesson I'm going to be teaching tomorrow. I didn't know where on earth this room was located until I walked by and saw Hermione and you staring each other down almost."

Snape opened his mouth, but then shut it again. He knew she was telling the truth about not attending Hogwarts, and maybe not knowing where the room was, but he knew that she was covering for Hermione. Though, he couldn't prove it, so there wasn't much he could do except give in for now and give her some kind of sleeping draught. He didn't want to, but he knew that Jade was a stubborn woman and wasn't going to leave unless she got what she wanted.

"Fine," he said in an irritated voice and stepped back into his potions closet. There were a few that he could have given her, but he was trying to think of one that wasn't extremely strong. Draught of the living dead was out of the question, so that narrowed down the selection. Snape glanced around the room for a moment before sliding his latter to the far right of the shelves. He climbed up to the third shelf from the top and climbed back down. "This should do well enough for your little lesson," he said as he tossed a small brown bottle to Jade.

Jade caught the bottled one-handed and smiled. "Thanks," she replied and slipped the bottle into her pants pocket. "Well, I'll be off then," she said and turned from Snape and began walking off.

Hermione had been quiet the entire time, simply wondering why Jade was doing this for her. When Jade walked away she was left there, face to face with Professor Snape. He stared at her with a disgruntled look, wondering why she was still standing there. If she had in fact been there to get the sleeping draught for Jade, then she wouldn't still be there.

Hermione blinked, then turned nervously away and rushed to get away from him. She wondered about him sometimes; he always seemed so unhappy. She looked at Jade ahead of her, and walked to her side. Jade didn't seem to notice she was there, so Hermione cleared her voice and began, "Uhm…why did you help me out back there?"

Jade shrugged and didn't bother to glance down at her, "I know how Severus can be sometimes, so don't mention it." She finally looked down on her and asked, "Though, what exactly where you doing standing in front of his door like that? I was watching you for a while."

Hermione blushed and turned her head away from Jade. "I… was just thinking that's all."

Jade laughed, "You're a terrible liar, you know that? Oh well, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Jade turned to the right to walk back to her room, "See you in class tomorrow." She looked back over her shoulder at Hermione and gave her a slight wave, then turned and walked to her room and disappeared behind her door.

Hermione frowned when she went into her room. How ironic it was that the person she was so suspicious of had saved her from detention with Snape, or possibly worse.


	4. Chapter 4

"See Hermione, she's not _as _terrible as you make her out to be," Ron said after Hermione finished telling Harry and him all about her run in with Professor Snape last night, and how Jade had come to her rescue.

Hermione nodded sluggishly and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess so," she replied. "I still don't like her very much, however," she added.

"Why?" Ron asked. He saw no reason for her to dislike her yet. She hadn't done anything to Hermione, except help her that is.

Hermione stared at Ron and scowled at him for a moment. She hated the fact that she couldn't give him an answer. She looked away and acted like he hadn't spoken. "Lets go getting to class now, shall we?" She didn't wait for them to respond, and began walking to class. The first class of the day she had to be with _her_For the first time Hermione didn't look forward to going to class.

Harry and Ron exchanged confused glances after they watched Hermione begin to walk off. They said nothing to each other, but simply shrugged and followed after her. The classroom was right down the hall from where they had been talking, so it only took twenty seconds till they were inside the classroom. Jade wasn't there, again.

Hermione rolled her eyes and set her books down. "Looks like we'll be without a teacher yet again."

"I beg to differ," a familiar, female voice said from the doorway.

Hermione turned to look over her shoulder, and there she was. Jade was standing right there in the doorway. Hermione's face flushed with embarrassment and she quickly turned her head back around. She told herself she should stop thinking out loud. Never know who's going to be standing behind you when you say something.

A small smile appeared on Jade's face as she chuckled. She moved out of the doorway so that a few stragglers could make their way into the classroom. Jade did a quick overlook of the classroom, then shut the door when it looked as though everyone had arrived and was in their seats.

"Alright, lets not waste anytime. I need a volunteer," Jade said loud and clear as she walked back to her desk. She opened the middle door and fumbled through the mess and placed a small brown bottle on the desk, along with a small bottle of water and a small chalice. The chalice had what looked like a dragons claw holding up the glass. The hand seemed to be made of sliver, and was brightly polished.

Jade was finished laying out the few items and looked up to see no one raising their hands to volunteer. "I said I needed a volunteer," she repeated in a raised voice. Still, no one raised his or her hand. Jade rolled her eyes and said, "Harry, come on up here."

Harry sighed and mumbled under his breath about how he hated to be chosen at random like that. A few kids from Slytherin snickered while making churlish remarks about Harry as he approached Jade's desk. He looked back at Hermione and Ron for a moment. They both just gave him sympathetic looks as if to say 'good luck'. That didn't comfort him. He still felt awkward around Jade, and didn't trust her. Not to the extent that Hermione went to, but he didn't feel comfortable being her guinea pig in a class lesson.

"Sit down please," Jade instructed as she poured the water into the large chalice until it was half full. After that she put exactly two drops of the potion in the brown bottle into the water, and swished it around so that they were evenly mixed together.

Harry obeyed her instruction and sat down, watching her carefully. He didn't know what she was putting into the chalice along with the water, and he was afraid of what it might be. He looked at the bottle to see if there was some sort of label on it, but he found nothing. He swallowed hard and nervously, hoping that something would happen; something that would disturb class, forcing Jade to tend to the matter and forget about the lesson.

Jade ignored Harry for a moment, filling him with slight relief. Instead she turned to the class so that she could explain what she was trying to teach them. She clasped her hands together and began, "Ok, this is slightly more complicated than some of the stuff you're learning in your other classes. It may seem simple, but you'll find it's harder than you think. Today I only wanted to demonstrate by using on person so that every one can grasp the concept, then tomorrow you're all going to try it.

"Your going to learn to slow down the affect of a potion. In which today it's going to be a simple sleeping potion. This spell has saved many lives, believe it or not. There is no spell that can fully take away the affect of a potion. Just like you can't change the properties of a poisonous herb. If a herb is poisonous, you can't use a spell so that it makes it nonpoisonous; but you can treat yourself so that your body can fight the poison off." Jade turned back to Harry and walked next to him.

Harry groaned very lowly so that Jade could not hear him. He knew it wouldn't be long before he would end up having to drink the contaminated water in front of him. He had hoped that it would take so long for her to talk that she wouldn't be able to show the class how to do it. Then it would be held off till tomorrow, and maybe he might not show up for class if that were the case.

Jade looked at Harry and said, "Ok, you ready?"

Harry wanted to say no, but he didn't have the guts to. He didn't give her a verbal respond either; he just nodded his head showing that he was, even though that was a lie.

"Good," she replied. She raised her voice again so that the rest of the class could hear her again, "Ok, the spell is only one word long. It's _untoxicate_, very simple to pronounce."

Harry decided it was best he pull out his wand now and be ahead of the game, so he reached in his pocket and began to pull it out. He stopped when Jade protested and sat there staring at her.

"No, this has to be done without a wand," she made sure every one could here. "Though thanks for bringing that up, Harry. We don't want to use a wand for this spell because we don't want to let our enemy know we're using it, understand? It's better to let your enemy think that they're in control of the situation. If the know that you know they poisoned your water, or food, what ever it is, then you're a dead person. That means their cover has been blown, and now they just need to kill you and run.

"Death eaters usually do that anyway, but there are a lot of occasions where they try and kill discreetly; most of the time when they're on the verge of being captured and shipped off to Azkaban, and they need to get rid of some one right away." She paused and thought for a moment. Jade wondered if there were any major points that she was missing. "Oh, yes before I forget. This also has done nonverbally for the same reason it has to be done without a wand. You have to say it in your head, but make sure you say it loudly in your head, as if you were screaming it."

She walked behind Harry and placed her left hand on his shoulder and leaned over him, and looked at the chalice. "What you do, is stare at the cup. Don't say the spell yet, just stare at it and focus. Don't stare to long or they'll know what's up. You then reach for the glass, bringing it up to the side of the glass facing you, and waving your hand right over the top. In your mind imagine the magic pouring off your hand and into the cup as you say the spell in your mind. Then grab the glass from the opposite side facing you and take a drink.

"You must do this every time you go to take a sip. If it's a very strong potion you may not have very long before you start to feel the affects of it, but if it's a weaker one, it may take anywhere from ten to thirty minutes for it to start taking affect. You can also use this on yourself if you've been poisoned, and didn't know it until you started to feel it taking it's toll on you, though we'll get to that in a few days once we've mastered this part of it first." Jade tightened her grip on Harry's shoulder and said, "Ok, take a try at it now Harry." She knew he was nervous, she could feel his muscles tense up when she told him to try the spell. She also knew that if she were any other teacher, he might not have been so nervous.

The words that came from Jade's mouth hit Harry like a ton of bricks in the face. He wasn't scared of failing in front of the class, he was afraid of what she put in the water. She _claimed_ that it was a sleeping potion, but he didn't trust her very much. There was just something about her. It was slightly different from what Hermione felt towards her. Harry's feeling was more…familiar, like he felt them for her before she walked into Hogwarts that first night.

Harry drew in a deep breath and lifted his hand. As he moved his hand over the top of the glass, he shouted the words as loud as he could inside his head and, just like Jade instructed, imagined the magic pouring out from the palm of his hand and into the drink. He grasped the cut firmly in his hand, and drew it to his mouth. He pressed his lips on the glass, 'bottoms up,' he said in his mind, and gulped the water down as fast as he could.

Jade withdrew her hand from his shoulder, and the class watched Harry for a long time. After two minutes went by, things began to get hazy for Harry. His vision was the first thing that started to go. He wobbled in the chair, and heard a few voices, but couldn't understand what they were saying. He then blacked out, falling sideways out of the chair and onto the hard, cold floor.

Hermione gasped, and Ron jumped to his feet. "You killed him!" Hermione exclaimed, following Ron to the front of the room.

Jade bent down to Harry and checked his head to make sure he hadn't cracked it open when he hit the floor. "It was a sleeping potion I put in the water. He's not dead, just sleeping. If you want to blame some one, blame Snape. I asked him not to give me something so strong, but I guess he didn't listen to me now did he."

Note: Yay!!! Finally past most of the boringness. It gets better now, I promise. Just wait till about four or so more chapters. Muahaha.


	5. Chapter 5

Harry let out a small groan as he began to wake up. His hand twitched and his eyes slowly began to open. He smacked his lips together and ran his tongue over the roof of his mouth. There was a terrible taste in his mouth. He rested his elbows against the floor and pushed himself up, trying to remember what happened. He turned his head and was startled to see Jade sitting on her knees to his left.

"Are you alright?" Jade asked him.

Hermione's head perked up and she looked across the room. Harry was finally awake. She let out a breath of relief and got up from her seat and joined Jade next to Harry. As did Ron who was staring out the window before he heard Jade speaking to Harry.

The class was giggling and whispering to one another about how Harry had not performed the spell correctly. Jade had to quiet them down right after he passed out, but it didn't last very long. Jade wasn't in the mood to quiet them down anymore. She was more worried about Harry than the class getting a little out of hand.

"What happened," Harry said drowsily while looking at Hermione.

Hermione smiled and laughed slightly, "Well apparently you didn't do the spell right."

Harry put his hand to his head and frowned. "Exactly how long was I out for?" He was still extremely tired, and felt as if he could fall back to sleep at any given moment.

"Almost the rest of the class period," Ron replied. "Jade had to run back to her room for a while to get the anti-dote that she had forgotten in her room." He realized how tired that Harry looked. He looked at Jade and frowned, "Why does he still look so drowsy? Isn't this supposed to cure him and wake him up?"

Jade glared at Ron defensively and said, "I don't know how strong the potion that Snape gave me was, so this anti-dote may not have been strong enough to cure him completely. He might be drowsy for the rest of the day. I would suggest that he skip his next class. Wouldn't want him falling asleep in his next class, or just dropping down in the middle of a hallway, now do we?"

"I'm fine, really," Harry said in his own defense. He began to stand up, but fell once he was half way. He closed his eyes and his head was swimming. He began to feel like he was going to black out once more.

Hermione watched Harry fall back down to the floor, then looked at Jade. She pressed her lips tightly together and flared her nostrils. She looked back to Harry again and said, "I really hate to say this, but Jade's right on that one. You should skip your next class and rest up. Maybe the potion will ware off by then with the help of the anti-dote."

Harry didn't hear a word Hermione said. He had dozed off as she began speaking to him. Jade nudged him gently and said, "Well, guess he has no choice now. I'll see to it that he gets to the nurses office. You to just go to your next class. I'm sure this will ware off by the end of it and he'll be able to rejoin you in class after that."

Ron watched Harry for a moment; he looked almost dead. "Ok, and hurry please. He doesn't look so good," he replied.

Hermione flashed Ron an irritated look. She still didn't trust Jade. Who's to say she wasn't going to try something funny? "He better be ok," she threatened, and then stood up and walked back to her seat; only moments after that it was time to go to her next class.

Ron stood up finally and gathered up his things and walked over to Hermione, who was waiting impatiently for him at the doorway. Hermione leaned over to him and began to whisper some things to quiet for Jade to make out, but she knew that they were talking about her.

Jade watched the two disappear around the corner, then grabbed Harry and lifted him over her shoulder. "Why that girl doesn't like me, I'll never understand," she muttered under her breath. She didn't have a class this period, so there was no need for her to rush. She walked to the entrance and peered out into the hallway. Students rushed by to get to their next class. Once the hallway was cleared out, Jade stepped out from the hallway and began walking, though not in the direction of the nurse's office.

Harry winced in pain slightly, his head throbbing now. He rolled over and hugged the soft dark green pillow next to him, starting to wake up now. He groaned slightly and reached up to wipe the small amount of drool at the corner of his mouth away. Once his brain was functioning more, he realized something; he wasn't in his room the last time he was awake, or partially awake. His eyes snapped open and he leapt to his feet. As he looked around the room, he knew it wasn't his. He began to panic slightly, having no idea where on earth he was.

There were tons of people in the room, all staring back at him. It was the most uncomfortable situation Harry had ever been in. Though, as he looked closer, he saw that they all looked exactly the same, exactly like him. They were his reflections! He looked all around the room to see there were hundreds of mirrors all around the room of all shapes and sizes. Some were round, and some were square. Some were long, some were wide, they all varied. The only things in the room not giving off reflections were the bed, a small dresser, and a desk covered with scattered papers.

Even though Harry realized the people were only his reflections, he was not put at ease. His heart thumped loudly inside his chest, and his breathing was short and rapid. The room had a terribly creepy aspect to it, which was made worse by the poor lighting. The poor lighting made his reflections seem dark, and to a certain extent evil. No matter where he looked his reflection was there, staring right back at him, as if they were alive and could jump out at him at any given moment. He tried to escape his own gaze by looking up at the ceiling, but it astonished him to see that there were mirrors there as well.

Harry's heart suddenly lifted when he spotted something gold on one of the four walls. He looked more closely at the mirror it was stuck to, and saw the outlining of a door. He dashed towards it at once, reaching out his hand for the doorknob and rejoicing since he was almost out of the wretched room that looked as if it came from some one's nightmare.

Harry gripped the doorknob firmly in his hand and could have ripped the door off its hinges, but before he could even begin to turn the handle he noticed it was already turning from the other side. His eyes grew wide with horror. He didn't know where he was, let along who was on the other side of the door.

Harry stumbled back, turning to run and hide. He wasn't sure that he would be able to hide himself in a room like this, but he was sure going to try. As he was taking off towards the bed in the far left corner of the room he lost his footing and tumbled to the ground, then turned on his back and tried scooting away as the door opened.

"Oh, I see your finally awake," Jade said as she stepped into the room. She arched her eyebrow and gave Harry a weird look before asking him, "What are you doing on the floor?"

Harry was incapable of replying to Jade. He was as pale as a ghost and stood as still as a statue; he didn't even blink.

Jade waited patiently for a reply from Harry. After a couple of seconds she saw that he wasn't going to answer her question any time soon, so she spoke again, "Are you ok? You look scared to death." She closed the door behind her and kneeled down in front of Harry, waving her hand in front of his face, hoping to get some sort of reaction from him. "If you don't breath your going to die, you do realize that right?"

Harry was still in shock and hadn't realized that he wasn't breathing the entire time Jade was opening the door. He parted his lips slightly and filled his lungs with air. "T-thanks," he stuttered.

Jade chuckled and stood up, offing her hand to Harry. "Let me guess, the mirrors gave you the creeps? I usually don't let people into my room for that reason. Last time a child your age came in my room and was left alone like that," she paused to sigh, "He had to see a therapist for two years." As she helped Harry to his feet she frowned, thinking back to the incident from a few years back when it happened, then added, "Though I regret to say I was glad it happened."

Harry brushed himself off, staring at the ground and trying not to look at the mirrors anymore. They still gave him the creeps big time, and having Jade there sort of made things a little worse. He still had this weird feeling about her. "Well aren't you nice," he said sarcastically.


	6. Chapter 6

Jade eyed Harry for a long moment, then finally shrugged her shoulders. "Well the kid was a little terror. Serves him right."

Harry took his gaze away from the floor for a split second to give her a puzzled look. "What exactly did he do?" he asked soon after returning his sight to the ground.

Jade crossed her arms over her chest and her glance darted at her desk for a brief second, but Harry didn't catch it since he was staring down at the floor. "He broke a valuable item of mine. Well it wasn't completely broke, thank goodness, but it was cracked. If it had been any other item in my house I might not have gotten as upset as I did, but unfortunately it just had to be that one thing I didn't want broken…" she trailed off and became lost in her own thoughts for a moment. "Then after that, lost in rage, I locked him in my room without thinking. I was supposed to be babysitting him for his parents," she explained in a monotone.

Harry examined his shoes while he listened to the story since there wasn't anything else on the floor to look at. "What exactly was it that he broke?"

Jade sighed and said, "That's for me to know, and you not to know, got it? Stop asking so many questions. Haven't you heard the saying 'curiosity killed the cat'?" Harry didn't respond, but Jade noticed he had been staring at the floor an awful lot. Then she remembered the mirrors still had the creepy aspect to them. Jade never seemed to notice anymore since she was always around mirrors, and in all kinds of lighting.

Jade snapped her finger and instantly the room lit up. The dark reflections slowly returned to normal, and the newfound light washed the creepy aroma that filled the room away. "There, you can look up now. The lightings better so the reflections don't look as freighting."

Harry reluctantly looked up. Jade was right, it didn't look as bad with some light in the room. He then noticed all the candles around the room that lit it up like that. He hadn't noticed them in the dark before, though, he was staring at the ground more than he was studying the walls.

Jade turned from Harry and took at seat at her desk, then reached down to the bottom left drawer. She pulled out a blank sheet of paper and a pen, and began to scribble something down on the paper.

Harry tried to see what she was writing, but he couldn't see from where he was standing. He stood there, fiddling with his thumbs for a moment as he watched Jade for a long time. He was silently debating on whether to just walk out now, or stay and talk to her about her mark. It had been bugging him for a while now, but he never got the chance to talk to approach her in private. Now was his chance, however, and he knew it might be the only chance he would get. He took in one solid deep breath, gathered his courage, and slowly strode next to Jade. "Jade," he began, " How long exactly did you work for Voldemort? What made you break away from him?" There were many questions that he had, but for some reason that's all that came to him at this moment.

Jade stopped writing and turned in her chair to gaze up at Harry. She bit her lip, then let out a long breath, "I knew you'd bring it up sooner or later." She paused, deciding whether she should answer his questions or not. He had a right to know. "I worked for him for a pretty long time. Then I quit because I realize that all he told me was nothing but lies." Jade's expression became depressed and she carefully studied the mark on her arm that would never go away no matter what she did. "Everyone has a dark side. Every one has done things that they might regret. I have more of a dark side than you can imagine, and that dark side has done so many terrible things…so many…" She swallowed hard, seeming like she was fighting to fight back tears that were building in the corners of her eyes.

Jade reached up and placed her trembling hand on Harry's shoulder, "I know you want to know more, but it's just not the time. I promise I'll explain everything to you later. Right now I can't." Her eyes darted all around the room and her voice became hushed, "You don't know who might be listening."

Harry looked around the room with her, but he couldn't imagine that they wouldn't know if some one was trying to hide and listen into their conversation in a room like this. However, he nodded his head in agreement anyway, but couldn't help but ask her, "Exactly who might be listening?"

Jade's hand receded from Harry's shoulder, and she turned from him, leaving his question unanswered for the moment. "Don't fret Harry. All will be explained in good time. You'll find out what you need to know soon enough. Sooner than you think," her voice was slightly colder than usual.

Harry shuttered at the sound of her voice. Jade shook her head for a moment, and blinked a few times. She let out a frustrated sigh and mumbled things under her breath that were to low for Harry to understand. He wondered what she just thought of to make her mad. He hadn't said anything to offend her, so far as he knew. Maybe he just brought up bad memories for her.

Jade picked up the pen and held it firmly in her fingers, then began to scribble on the paper once again. "Wait here for a moment. I should finish this before your friends are out of their next class. They're pretty worried about you and should expect to see you in the nurses office, so you should head over there so they don't freak out when your not there."

Harry tilted his head to the side. She told Ron and Hermione that he was in the nurse's office? He wondered why she would tell them that, then end up bringing him to her room. Now more of the questions he wished to ask her started to come back into his mind, and some new ones were being added to his list. "Ok," Harry finally replied. Now Harry didn't know what to do with himself. He was caught in that awkward silence once again. When he looked at Jade to watch her continue to write the note he noticed something odd about the way she wrote. She didn't look at the paper as she wrote, but at the mirror in front of her, staring her reflection in the eye.


	7. Chapter 7

"Harry are you alright? She didn't try and put any kind of spell on you did she?" Hermione asked Harry, walking around him to make sure she hadn't physically hurt him.

Harry laughed and shook his head no, "No, she didn't. She's actually not as bad as you think she is. She's weird, but nice in her own little way."

"What exactly happened while you were with her?" Ron asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

Harry opened his mouth, but suddenly stopped to consider his answer. He thought back to the last few moments he spent with Jade before he left.

Harry stood there, rocking back and forth on his heals, waiting patiently for Jade to finish her letter. He didn't understand why she couldn't just tell him what it said. An envelope waved in front of his face, and that broke him away from his thoughts.

"Here," Jade said to him. Her stare for some reason hadn't moved from the place it had been. She was still staring deeply into the mirror into her own eyes. "Take it. Don't open it until every one is asleep. Do you understand?"

Harry took the envelope and folded it so that it would fit in his front pocket without sticking out. "Yeah, I understand. Why though?" he asked.

"No more questions. Just do as I say. Trust me, it's for your own good. I know I'm being quiet demanding of you, but you'll thank me later for all this. Go to the nurse's office and wait for your friends there. Do not tell them that you were here, at all. Got it?" Jade said firmly, and still her stare remained on the mirror.

Harry didn't want to question her further. She seemed to be getting irritated with his constant questions. He couldn't help it though. There was so much she wasn't telling him, he just knew it, and he wanted to know. "Ok…" he said dully.

"She stayed here most of the time in the nurses office with me, but I was asleep most of the time. Once I woke up and she saw that I was going to be all right she left. She didn't say much really," Harry lied.

Ron smirked and said, "I wouldn't mind being taken care of by her. She is kind of creepy sometimes, but at times her looks can make up for that."

Hermione rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. She still didn't like Jade, even though she had helped her out, and had helped out Harry when it wasn't her fault he was like that. She did tell Snape to get a weak potion, and obviously he didn't listen to her.

Ron and Harry had learned to deal with Hermione when she was like this. They both knew it would take her a while to warm up to Jade. Either that or she might just hate her for the rest of the year. They doubted that Jade would be there next year any way. No Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher ever made it past a year at Hogwarts.

The three went to class without much dialogue being exchanged. Harry didn't focus much on his schoolwork; he was too anxious to read the letter that Jade had written him. He felt the envelope he hastily folded tucked away in his pocket, running his fingers lightly over the creases. At one point he pulled it out of his pocket, and was about to read it in class, but he was able to find some self restraint so he put the letter back in it's place.

The rest of the day seemed to go by painfully slow, well at least to Harry it did. What seemed like hours to him were only mere minutes. Mrs. McGonnall had repeatedly told him to stop turning around to look at the clock and pay attention to the lesson at hand.

Ron noticed how distant Harry had been ever since he returned from being asleep in the nurse's office with Jade, and began to wonder if Hermione had been right all along about her. Mrs. McGonnall had turned her back to the class to write something on the board, so Ron took advantage of the moment. He jotted something down on a piece of paper and slid it over to Harry.

Even though Harry was staring at the surface of his space on the table, he didn't notice the small note that Ron had slipped to him. It was only when he moved his hand did he feel the smooth surface of the paper. Quickly he snapped back to his senses and turned the paper over and read what it said.

'Hey Harry, are you feeling ok? You don't seem to be yourself.'

Harry picked up his pen to reply, but he couldn't think of what to say. He knew if he said he just had something son his mind and that's why he was spaced out, then Ron would ask what was on his mind. He didn't want to tell him what was on his mind though, because then he would ask more questions and Jade didn't want Harry giving out any information. Finally something came to him and he passed the paper back to Ron when Mrs. McGonnall wasn't looking.

'Sorry to worry you and Hermione, but I'm fine. I guess the sleeping draught is

still in effect somewhat still.'

Ron didn't bother to write back; he just looked at Harry and gave him an understanding nod.

The day continued to go on as usual for Harry; slow. It was like the world was trying to prevent him from reading the letter.

Finally, it was time to head off to bed. Harry was the first one ready and under the covers. He closed his eyes to make it seem like he had already drifted to sleep. He waited, listening intently for the sounds of the others, and waited for them to fall to sleep. He waited a long time to make sure that every one was asleep before he could get up. It was almost midnight before Ron had finally gone to bed. Harry lifted his head and looked at the others, pausing for a moment to see if there was any moment amongst them. When all seemed clear he cautiously walked across the room where he placed his dirty clothes and pulled the letter our of his pants pocket.

Harry paused and glanced around. He didn't want to light something; he might wake someone. He figured he'd sit by the window and use the little moonlight that there was to read the letter. As he slowly crept by Ron's bedside he came to a halt and froze in his tracks; Ron rolled over and hugged his pillow, then smacked his lips slightly. Harry could have sworn he heard Ron mumble Hermione, but he wasn't sure of it.

Harry remained entirely still for a minute or so, then when he was sure Ron was asleep he moved to the window and sat on the sill.

Dear Harry,

I'm sorry about what happened earlier. You woke up before I had expected you too. There is too much for me to explain in this letter, sorry to disappoint you. I couldn't risk telling you too much because I was afraid that you were going to snitch to your friends. If you want to know what's going on, then meet me in my room at one in the morning. For now all I can really say is that you and your friends are in grave danger. Voldemort will come for you soon, and you need to be ready.

It took Harry about fifteen minutes to read the letter, but only because Jade's handwriting was so sloppy. Harry wondered why she didn't just look at the paper when she wrote. It would probably be much neater and ten times more legible.

After he was finished reading the paper, he reread it a second time to make sure he read it all correctly and clearly understood what she was telling him. Once he was done reading it the fourth time he folded it back up and placed it under his mattress.

"She wanted me to meet her at one in the morning. I wonder why," he thought to himself and looked the clock hanging on the far wall. "Only twelve forty-eight," he said softly.

Harry figured he would just head to her room, and by the time he got there it would be one in the morning. Though before heading out he quietly changed back into his clothes from earlier. He didn't want to be in his pj's when he met up with Jade this morning.

Harry walked out of the room and peeked his head around the corner of the hallway to make sure no one was up wandering around. He hoped for once he could sneak around without getting caught.


	8. Chapter 8

Harry made his way to Jade's room and lightly tapped his knuckle against the wooden door. Unexpectedly Jade swung the door open swiftly and silently, then grabbed Harry by the arm and yanked him inside. She didn't swing the door shut like she did when she opened it, but gently closed it so that it didn't make a single sound. She peered out into the hallway the entire time she was closing it. "Sorry," Jade said in a hushed voice, "The teachers don't trust me, so I don't want them to catch me with you."

Harry rubbed his arm and stared at the floor. The room was dark like yesterday, and he didn't want to look at his reflection again. "Why exactly do they not trust you?" he finally asked.

Jade ignored him for a while as she listened intently for any sounds from outside the door. She snapped her fingers and the room again instantly lit up. "They all know my past, and many of them do not believe that I have changed," she said blandly as she walked to her bed and lay flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling, "I used to be Voldemorts right hand girl. I was supposed to take his place if anything should happen to him."

Now knowing that, Harry suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He took a small step back and kept his gaze upon her now.

Jade didn't need to look at him to know he was frightened. She broke her stare from the mirror above her and looked at him. Suddenly a small snicker escaped her. Her tone of voice seemed to change again like it did before when he was in her room earlier. "Tell me Harry, do you fear me?" she asked as she stood up and smirked.

Harry fumbled for an answer. He wasn't sure if he should tell her that he was, or hide it from her. She might use it against him if she knew. "N-no," he said in a slightly shaky voice.

Jade laughed and continued to encroach Harry. "If you're going to lie, at least do a good job of it. You reek of fear, and your expression gives you away." Jade continued to laugh maliciously. "Harry, you're trembling," she said, sarcastically trying to be sincere.

As Jade lifted her hand out to Harry, he tried to back away, but was stopped by the wall. He lifted his gaze to meet hers, and an icy chill ran down his spine. At that moment, he couldn't move, and cold only watch in horror as Jade reached for him. He didn't know what she was planning to do, but from the look in her eyes he could tell that she wanted to hurt him.

Harry took a deep breath and waited for Jade to wrap her hand around his neck. In any other situation, he would have easily reached for his wand to defend himself, but something about her stare. He couldn't take his eyes away from hers, and it rendered him incapable of doing anything.

Suddenly Jade just stopped. She blinked several times, and then shook her head slightly. She smirked again and couldn't help but laugh. She then reached up for Harry again, though this time reaching for the top of his head instead.

"Ouch," Harry exclaimed in a surprised voice as Jade plucked three strands of hair from his head.

"Stop your whining, it's only three little hairs. If you'd rather, I can take a whole heedful," Jade said, inspecting the hairs and walking to her desk.

Harry rubbed his head and thought about what just happened. That was the weirdest situation he had ever been in; all that for just three hairs. "No that's alright, three is just fine. Uhm, what exactly do you need those three hairs for anyway?" he asked her, walking up to her desk.

"These three hairs will help me perform a spell that's going to save your life," she said, her voice seeming to return to its normal almost soft and calm sound.

Harry arched his eyebrow with interest. "What spell is it?"

Jade stared at the mirror in front her again. Her hair that was usually covering her left eye was pushed to the side, allowing Harry to see that in her reflection there was something out of place. He looked from her, then back to her reflection. Then it hit him, in her reflection her left eye was silver, but on her it was still green. He wondered why.

Harry looked into the mirror closest to him and studied his closely, looking for some abnormality in his. Maybe that's how it was in all the mirrors. He looked closely, while Jade fiddled with the three hairs she plucked from Harry's scalp. In that time he found nothing wrong with his reflection. Maybe it was that one specific mirror. He'd have to try that out later. "What spell is it?" he repeated when he hadn't gotten an answer.

A smile spread across Jade's face as she said, "You'll see."

Note: Sorry for the shortness. I should have just kept it going in the last chapter. I'm a dork what can I say.


	9. Chapter 9

Jade sat there reading the letter she found sitting on her desk when she woke up. Her eyes were wide with shock as she read.

Jade,

Did you really think that you could keep me from killing that boy? You're really something else you know that? Well, just to let you know, the boy is dead. When you two were talking early this morning around two, I hear every single word. How you told him that you'd meet him later in the library before school started and talk with him more about protection himself against the dark forces then sent him off to get a few hours of sleep before you met up again. You were careless Jade, so his death is all your fault. If you don't believe me, go look for yourself.

The letter dropped from Jade's trembling hand. 'How could I be so careless!' she scolded herself. She looked up at the clock and drew in a deep breath. If what the person who wrote the letter was true, then Harry must have shown up ten minutes early. There might be a chance the letter was just a bluff to shake Jade up, or it could be true. Jade had to find out.

Jade rushed out of the door, jogging past a few students that obviously were early risers. She prayed that no on was in the library at this time in the morning and, if Harry was in fact dead, hadn't found his body already.

Jade's jog turned into a run, and she was soon standing in front of the library doors. They weren't open, and she couldn't hear any one inside. If Harry were dead, there would be a crowd.

Jade hesitantly reached up for the door and grasped the doorknob firmly in her sweaty palm. There was a part of her that wanted to walk away before she found out that what she feared was true. There was also another part of her that urged her to open the door and see that who ever wrote the letter was just trying to scare her.

Jade stood there, silent and motionless, debating on what she should do. Finally, Jade chose to enter the room, and flung the door open. She let out a breath she didn't seem to realize had been holding and gazed into the pitch-black room. She took on step in, then started to grope the wall to find the light switch.

Jade's blood ran cold when the light filled the room. Her mouth became dry, and she almost stopped breathing again. Jade could only stare and gawk at the image before her.

All was silent and time seemed to stand still for this tragic moment. Reality seemed to come apart during those agonizing twenty seconds that Jade was staring at the butchered corpse of Harry Potter.

Only when a young girl passing by who broke the silence with a high-pitched scream did time go back to normal. Jade almost jumped out of her skin she was startled by the sudden outburst of the girl.

Jade leaned against the cold wooden bookcase, biting her nail as she watched the paramedics put a sheet over the bloody body on the floor.

It was obvious to every one that Harry wasn't killed by magical means. His throat was slit and he had gashes all over his body. His left arm was broken in five places, and in one spot you could see the bone about to burst out of the skin. Harry's right leg was bent in a way that no one could do without breaking a kneecap. It was a gruesome sight to see, and it made every one queasy when they looked at it.

All the teachers were gathered in the library, and school was canceled for the day. Every one was silent, and simply watched as the investigators did their work.

Jade noticed the suspicious stares she was receiving from many of the teachers, so she turned her head so she didn't have to look back at them. They had a right to be suspicious. Her past wasn't the best, and she was the one found staring at Harry's corpse.

Jade continued to nervously bite on her nail, still looking away from the others. She wished the investigation would hurry up so she wouldn't have to be in the room with the others anymore. It was entirely too awkward for her.

Two hours passed by before the scene was cleaned up and the investigators had gathered enough information they needed. One of the men pulled Dumbledore off to the side and quietly exchanged words with him, then left after.

The teachers were now left alone, and most were still glaring at Jade. Now Jade was getting pissed off, and turned to every one, throwing her hands in the air while yelling, "Stop with the fucking glaring! It's getting old and annoying. If some one has something they want to say to me, then just say it already."

Snape was the first one to speak up, "Alright, I think you killed him." He glanced around the room, then added bitterly, "And I believe I speak for almost every one in this room."

Jade scowled at him and snapped back, "And what's your fucking reasoning for that one?"

Snape stared her down with the same hate she was staring at him with, "Well lets see. For starters you were the one that was standing here, gawking at the body. Also, we all know how close you and Voldemort were. I really don't believe that sap story that you changed. I know how you were Jade, I was there with you when you did all those things."

Jade cracked her knuckles and her face twisted into a disgusted expression. "Just because I had close connections with Voldemort doesn't mean I'm the one that killed him. It's one thing to be suspicious, but you people seem dead set on the idea that I killed him." Jade was quiet for a moment, but cut Snape off when he tried to speak, "And let me remind all of you that Nape worked for Voldemort as well. Now that the dark lord is back who's to say that his allegiance will remain where it is now?"

Jade walked half way to Snape and continued to her rant, "So I think it was you, Severus. Your always grouchy and you didn't seem to fond of Harry, so it just makes you even more of a suspect."

Snape's face twisted and he looked as thought he was going to blow his top. He approached Jade and said, gritting his teeth, "You are you the one that helped in the killing of Harry's parents, so maybe you're here to finish the job."

Jade's face flushed with anger and she drew her arm back as if she was going to punch him, but stopped as she heard Dumbledore's booming voice.

"That is quiet enough!" Dumbledore shouted, walking between Snape and Jade. He lowered his voice some and continued, "A child has just died, and all you can do is point fingers. Show some respect for the dead."

Jade and Snape looked away from the one another and didn't say anything else to each other. The library was cleared out and a meeting was going to be held later that night. In the meantime Jade went back to her room to think things over.


	10. Chapter 10

Jade read the letter from the stranger over and over again for a hour, trying to see if there was some sort of hidden clues within the message. She reread the letter until her eyes were soar and she got a headache from reading so much. When she couldn't find anything she slammed the letter down on her desk and put her head in her hands.

Finally she let out a long deep breath and put the letter in her top desk drawer and leaned back in her chair. She massaged her temples and started to think about Ron and Hermione. She knew the three of them were a very close circle of friends, and they must be taking this pretty harsh. She thought maybe she would go see how they were doing before she headed out to the meeting in Dumbledore's office. Though then she remembered that Hermione didn't like her at all, and probably also thought that she was the one that killed Harry.

Jade wavered in her decision for a while, but in the end she decided to go see how they were holding up. First, however, she was going to make some herbal tea for them; with a little added ingredients. She walked over to one of the tall mirrors mounted on her wall, and tapped it with her wand once and it opened slowly. It was like a closet, but you couldn't tell it was there in the room by looking at it, like you could the front door. There were some unopened boxes that she never felt like unpacking when she arrived at the school.

She opened one and rummaged though it for a while until she found a large metal teakettle and a few cups. She was a huge fan of tea, but she didn't have the time to make any lately with all that was going on. She held her wand over the top of the kettle and said clearly, "Aguamenti." A small stream of water poured out from the tip of her wand and into the kettle. When it was almost full, she held her wand up and the water ceased to flow. Jade placed the lid on the kettle and tapped it with her wand. The kettle then rose into the air, and hovered above a set of three lit candles. It'd take longer than with a stove, but the same thing happened.

While the water heated she walked back to her desk and pulled out her bottom drawer and looked to see which type of tea she wanted to make. She selected one and put two bags on her desk, and then she pulled out a small vile. It was a special potion she created that she would slip into their tea to make Ron and Hermione feel better, and also make them sleep later in the day. She knew sleep wouldn't come easy to them if she didn't give this to them.

The tea was ready in ten minutes. When she was done preparing it, she poured three cups full, and then added a drop of the potion to only two of the cups. She placed them back on the tray and snapped her fingers. The tray lifted into the air and hovered behind Jade, then followed her when she walked.

When Jade walked out the door and into the hall, she noticed how empty they were. There was an eerie silence that contaminated them, and made even Jade hesitate and shudder. She rubbed her shoulder and drew in a small breath before continuing her little stroll to Ron's room. Jade figured that he and Hermione would be there.

As Jade drew closer and closer to the room, the sound of a girls sobbing filled her ears. 'Hermione,' Jade thought instantly, stopping in front of the door. Suddenly doubt started to fill her mind. What was she really doing there? She didn't know either of them that well to be offering them comfort when their best friend had died. 'Maybe I should just go,' Jade second-guessed herself.

'Well…sometimes it's nice to know that people, besides your friends, are there for you, I suppose,' Jade reassured herself. It was still going to be awkward, but still she felt some strange urge to go through with it anyway. She reached for the handle and silently turned it and opened the door.

As she saw Ron codling Hermione, holding her and gently stroking her head, her heart sank. It was just a sad scene to see. She could tell that Ron had feelings for Hermione, it was obvious to her, and she could tell that he longed to hold her like that, but not for this reason. That's what made it so sad. She stood there silently studying the two. She could tell Ron wanted to let his own tears flow freely, but was trying to hold off and be strong for Hermione.

Jade stood in the doorway just staring at the sad scene in front of her. Now that she was there in the room, she realized something; she hadn't the slightest clue what she was going to say.

"I…I can't believe he's…gone!" Hermione chocked out in a hoarse voice between her sobs. She grasped Ron's shirtsleeve tightly in her hands as the tears began to flow more fluently.

"Me neither," Ron said, almost in a whisper. He tightened his hold on Hermione just a little and raised his hand quickly to wipe away his forming tears before she had a chance to see them.

Jade rubbed the back of her neck, feeling her stomach knot up as the awkward feeling became more intense. She wasn't the best at comforting people, though she did like to try, but still she didn't make an attempt to approach them. She turned back and saw there wasn't much more steam coming from the tear anymore, so if she was going to talk to them she needed to do it now; before the tea got cold.

"You might want to stop crying sometime soon," Jade began, "You might dehydrate yourself." It was the only thing Jade could think of at the moment.

Ron and Hermione both jumped at the sound of Jade's voice. Hermione pulled herself away from Ron and spun around on the bed, staring dumfounded at Jade. She wiped her wet cheeks and stood up and looked around. For once she had no witty comeback. Hermione knew she wasn't really supposed to be in the boy's dorm area, so she thought she was going to get in trouble. Though this time she didn't care, and wouldn't fight it. "I'll…just be going now," she said in a crackling voice, trying to slip past Jade.

Jade shook her head and caught Hermione's arm and replied, "No, it's alright. You need to stay here and be with your close friend here, especially at a time like this." She let go of Hermione's arm and gestured her hand so that she might sit back down again. "I knew you two would be taking this the hardest, so I thought you could use a little company to take your mind off your grief for a short moment."

Ron and Hermione just gazed at Jade, not replying to her at all.

Jade stared back at them, and swallowed hard. She didn't think she'd be this nervous in front of them, but considering the circumstances, she was extremely nervous; her palms were even clammy. She then remembered the tea she brought with her, "Oh, uhm, here. I made some tea for you two, to calm your nerves." Jade pulled out her want and pointed it to the hovering tray, then moved it to the table next to the bed. The tray glided swiftly across the room and placed itself on the table.

Ron watched the tray all the way to the table, then looked at Jade and gave her a halfhearted smile. He took one of the cups and offered it to Hermione, who took it hesitantly and set it down on her knee after she sat back down on the bed. Ron himself took one of the cups and sipped at it a few times before setting it back down. "Thanks," Ron said to Jade, looking at the ground and hunching over some.

"Your welcome." Jade took the third cup from the tray and sat down across from Ron and Hermione on the window ceil. She leaned back against the glass and pulled her right leg up on the edge of the ceil and hugged her knee close to her chest.

"Why are you here?" Hermione asked in a monotone, swirling her tea around in the cup.

Jade watched Hermione for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders and said, "Don't know actually. I'm not the best at providing words of comfort, but I still felt the need to try."

"If your trying to make me believe you weren't the one that killed him, your failing miserably," Hermione snapped, wiping her tears forming from both hate and sadness.

Jade expected a comment like that from Hermione. "I didn't come here to convince you otherwise. I know you won't believe me, so why waste my breath on words that won't be listened to?" Jade yawned and looked up at the clock, then sighed. "Well, I just be on my way to a teachers meeting now and sit through an hour of conviction, or more if I'm lucky." She stood up and put her right hand on her hip. "I just came really to show that I am sorry for your loss. Oh, and drink the tea, you'll feel better."

Ron stared at Hermione and put his hand on her shoulder to stop another malicious comment from coming out of her mouth, "It's really not the time for this."

Hermione stopped and listened to Ron without any protest. She wasn't in the mood to continue verbally attacking Jade. She rubbed her nose and tried to be polite, though she didn't mean it. "Thanks for the tea," she said and sipped at it a few times, even though she didn't trust Jade in the least.

Jade simply nodded and said, "Your welcome." She bowed her head and turned to the door and walked out. She wasn't going to worry about getting her kettle back from them for now. There was always later. She sighed and put her hands in her pockets, thinking to herself, 'That was almost a disaster. Oh well, I did what I wanted to do somewhat. To at least give them the tea and let them sleep easy for tonight. As for the comforting part….no.'


	11. Chapter 11

Note: Oooh wow. It's been a while since I made an entry hasn't it. Almost forgot about this thing. Hehe. Oh and those of you wondering why I killed Harry, just read and you'll find out. At first it was just out of spite since my friend, who was OBSESSED with Harry Potter, got me hating it. Though it actually led to a pretty interesting plot twist that will come towards the end. Dun dun dun.

Jade had never been to this side of the school, so she was slightly lost. Somehow she managed to wind up in the rotating stairways, and that only confused her more. Every time she was close to getting off them, they'd move on her again.

Jade was getting extremely irritated going around in circles on the stairs. Finally she saw a hallway at the end of the staircase she was currently climbing. The moment she was almost on the stable platform, the stairs beneath her began to move once more.

"Shit!" Jade shouted and hopped onto the railing of the stairs as they pulled away from the hallway. She pushed off the railing hard with her left leg and stretched out her arms, reaching for the ledge. She just barely made it, but she didn't have much to hold onto. The polished floor was slippery, and the fact that her hands were clammy didn't make matters any better.

Jade looked down and arched her eyebrow. "Well, that's a nasty drop," she said hesitantly to herself. She turned back to the ledge and swung her body to the right and hauled her leg over the edge. From there it only took a few seconds to pull herself to safety. She dusted herself off lightly and muttered under her breath, "What kind of school is this any way. How on earth do students get to class on time?"

Jade took a step forward and lifted her head. She was started to see a woman in front of her, grinning at her maliciously. Jade's heart rate spiked up and she jumped back, though unfortunately tripped over her own feet. She fell hard on her back, and yelped lowly when her upper back hit the very edge of the hall, which she just recently climbed up onto. She groaned and leaned her head back, so she was laying half over the ledge.

"Ouch," she struggled to say. She then heard something, and it was moving towards her. She looked to her left and turned pale when she saw the gigantic staircase merely feet away from her head. She couldn't move at the moment, but only visualize her head being crushed between the hallway ledge and the stairway.

When the stairs were inches from Jade's face she snapped back into reality and thrust herself up right. Her hand then immediately grabbed the back of her head. A small patch of hair was caught between the colliding ledges.

Jade then remembered the woman she saw only briefly. From what she saw, the woman looked just like her, aside from her malice expression. She looked up to see where she went, but only laughed when she saw the mirror that hung on the wall. "Jade, your loosing it," she said to herself as she stood up once more.

Jade walked to the mirror and put her hand on it, inspecting it for a moment and sighed. "You'd think mirrors would be one of the last things to startle me like that." She chuckled again and turned to the right where the hall turned and followed it all the way down.

"I am so late," Jade muttered and walked with her hands behind her head. She came to the end of the wall way and stopped. There were two ways to go. Jade heard shouting coming from the left, so left was her choice. "Finally," she said, relieved to see Dumbledore's room. He had described it to her before she left the library earlier.

Jade couldn't understand what every one was saying, but she could hear the tension in the sound of their voices. Jade decided to wait and see what every one was saying before she went in. She opened the door only slightly and peeked in. No one was there. She blinked. She heard voices, but there wasn't anyone there. "Oh yeah, I have to take that statue staircase thingy to get up to his office…" She entered the room and stopped right in front of the statue and looked up, and listened intently.

"Why are we still sitting here, waiting for her to show up?" Snape demanded. The teachers obviously were fed up with waiting on Jade. She wondered exactly just now late she really was.

"She'll be here," Dumbledore said calmly. Jade smirked and shook her head. "At least some on sort of trusts me," Jade said quietly as she continued to listen. She knew Dumbledore trusted her, at least to a certain degree, or else he wouldn't have been so calm about her being so late.

"But she could be getting away right now! She probably had this planned out from the start, and now she's making her grade escape," Snape stated, trying to persuade Dumbledore otherwise.

At that moment, Jade thought it was the right time to come in. She sighed and stepped next to the statue and let it take her up to Dumbledore's office. As she entered into the office, all the teachers craned their heads around to look at Jade.

Jade scanned the room and locked her eyes on Snape, then said sarcastically, "No, I'm not making a get away. Just killing more innocent children." She turned to Dumbledore and noticed the relived expression he had. For a moment, then exchanged understanding glances, then Jade turned and leaned against the wall behind her.

"Somehow, I wouldn't doubt that," Snape scornfully responded.

Jade opened her mouth to make a comment, but held her tongue. She folded her arms and stared at Snape for a moment, then looked to the ground and waited for Dumbledore to start the meeting.

Once all was quiet Dumbledore began, "As every one knows, there has been a tragic murder here today. This second death within two years, and the ministry of magic is becoming very concerned. They are even more concerned because both deaths have occurred during the time Voldemort has come back. They fear that since both students attended Hogwarts, that Voldemort is specifically targeting this school, and for the childrens safety they may close it down.

No one stared at Jade anymore, and weren't concerned with giving her disgusted looks anymore. "Close Hogwarts? For how long?" Professor McGonnall asked softly.

"Until Voldemort is captured, or killed," Dumbledore regretted to say. "However," he continued, "They said we can decide whether we keep it open for not, but if anything else goes wrong we must close down."


End file.
